Father Rick Bolte's Homily

C: Easter

2010-04-04

  
Through Jesus life, death, and resurrection he has opened for us the gates of heaven. This is an adage that many of us grew up with. It is basically true. Without Jesus coming among us we were separated from God and did not have the means to heal the rift. For us it was as if the gates of heaven were locked against us.

However we should not take this analogy too far. There is of course no actual gate nor would God want to lock us out and the devil has no power to do such a thing. What Jesus has done is first to offer us reconciliation to heal the rift. Through his many parables and images he has revealed the Father not as a strict or stern judge but as a loving parent. God is not distant and watching to see if we “pass the test” but is actively calling us and enabling us to be reconciled and ever closer.

Secondly Jesus showed us a new way to live; it is the way that led to his cross and leads to ours as well. We forget sometimes that the apocalyptic predictions of the Old Testament from Ezekiel and Daniel were not of a second coming of Christ but simply what would happen when the Christ would come. They spoke of a world shaken to its foundation. The spoke of earthquakes and floods as the water would overflow as the world shock. The sun, moon, and stars would be shaken loose from the sky (possible in their understanding of the cosmos) and fall upon the earth.

Jesus has brought about this shakeup by the way he has shown us to live. Jesus died penniless, deserted even by his closest friends, and shamed as a criminal tortured to death on the cross. Had Jesus lived in our time and we knew him, we would likely label him “a basically good man but he took it too far.” We would admire his love for all people but there are definitely people we think he should be less friendly with. It’s nice that he was so generous but he should have gotten a job and provided for his own needs rather than relying on the generosity of others. He should have settled down, he would likely have been a good husband and father rather than wandering around without a roof over his head. When he died, especially if he was executed as a criminal, we would have “tis-tissed” at what could have been.

But Jesus’ resurrection has changes the view of Jesus’ life from a sad reflection on what might have been to “the Way” for us to live. In turning his back on power, prestige and possessions Jesus was not saying all things connected to them were bad. But he was saying that they are not nearly as important as love for all people. Jesus showed us a way to live where these things were not clung to but used to express his love. This new “way” to live shakes the foundations of our world. Indeed “many who are first will be last and the last will be first.” When we say “Yes” to this “Way” to live, we become part of God’s kingdom and it is more fully realized in our world. We are invited to help shakeup our world. We are invited to participate in the prayer Jesus taught us to pray, “thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.”